Dr. Shannon Mussett, professor of philosophy at Utah Valley University, will present “The genocidal march of the Hegelian spirit” on Friday, Feb. 21, from 3:30 to 5 p.m. in Marquette Hall 105.
This talk explores Hegel’s formulation of the Americas as spirit’s destination once it has completed its work in Europe. This destination requires the “vanishing” of the peoples and cultures that were already there so that spirit can remake the new world in its own image. In order to explore Hegel’s justifications for genocide, Mussett takes up spirit’s relation to its negative: nature. Ultimately, Hegel must characterize indigenous Americans as hopelessly inferior because of their natural ties to geographically immature lands, their physical and spiritual weakness, and their inability to withstand the robustness of European culture. In so doing, he creates a philosophical justification for their erasure.
This event is co-sponsored by the Department of Philosophy and the Center for Peacemaking.
